The Monsters under your Bed – A Sleepless Nightmare in your Head
by Lucy Chibi Cyan Rose
Summary: 'She's a mess of gorgeous chaos, and you can see it in her eyes.' A new, unseen force is pulling her away. Only the heart of one, and the courage of three can pull her back to safety again. Rated T for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

The Monsters under your Bed – A Sleepless Nightmare in your Head

**Hello my lovelies! I am Lucy. I just love writing! This is my first fanfic! I thought I'd start off by writing a Fairy Tail Story, and YES OF COURSE IT IS A NALU STORY BECAUSE THEY WOULD MAKE SOME AMAZING COUPLE!**

***Cough***

**Sorry about that.**

**Anyway, Nalu fluff will not be constant, but it will come. It will take you by surprise. *Le Evil Smirk.***

**Also, I've rated this a T JUST in case. Just to be safe. : )**

**Enjoy!**

_**My love, my sweet, my precious love…**_

_Brown orbs fluttered open. A pale finger twitched and flexed against the dry earth beneath it. A leg, pressed against a rough cold stone, struggled against the deafening eerie silence that stooped lower to the ground. The body, belonging to the leg, rose stiffly, breaking the fine mist that flew just above the body._

_A silenced gasp escaped the mouth of the body. The brown orbs widened, and a pale hand reached up to cover its mouth. A strong urge to scream overwhelmed the body, although no sound escaped. _

_**Bitter, you call me? Evil, I call you. **_

_An eerie silent wind swept the grey leaves of the blackened trees. The body made another attempt to scream, but all the sound that escaped was the high-pitched empty silence that surrounded her. _

_A blackened presence gripped its cold concealed hands on the body's shoulders. The body collapsed to the ground in a dead silence. _

_**You broke me, remember? Giving me a false hope. Telling me to run…**_

_One brown orb opened in the eerie silence. It distantly focused on a blackened shadow. In the midst of the fear that suffocated __her__, lips moved slowly, telling her a word._

_**But then I ran…**_

_The brown orb closed. And it did not see the word._

_**And then when you caught me…I was never found.**_

Long slender legs kicked at her constricting captors. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead, and tearful gasps escaped her small mouth. Lucy rose sharply from her plump mattress and gripped her pillow with her small, dainty hands. Her dark eyes scanned her lightened apartment where the sun broke through her thinned curtains.

A dream…

A sharp knock at her window sent the girl reeling towards her smooth a polished apartment floor. Lucy took in a shuddering breath and slowly crept back onto her mattress. She held out a shuddering hand, and pulled back the curtain. The face of her partner popped into view with his usual infectious grin.

"Hey, Luce!" His cheerful exterior brought a smile of her own to her pale, tear stricken face. The said girl pulled her large window open, and was pleasantly surprised by the comforting breeze of summer brushing her face. Natsu's calculating onyx stare zoomed in on her complexion, and narrowed very slightly. "Have you been cryin'?"

The blonde stiffened and turned her back on the pyro, furiously rubbing her reddened eyes. "N-No…" She sniffed and turned back to him, forcing a smile on her delicate features. She was surprised to see his face closer to hers. "N-Natsu…" 

"Who's the bastard that made you cry, Luce?" The seriousness of his voice sent a shiver of surprise through Lucy's spine. His eyes wondered down to her clothing, and confusion quickly demolished the anger. "It's not like you to change into your sleepin' stuff so early."

Lucy allowed a giggle to bubble through her lips. "Nobody's made me cry, idiot." _Although I'm grateful for the concern…_ "I'm still in my pyjamas because I've just woken up." She watched his shoulders slump. He collapsed onto her sofa and crossed his arms behind her head. Her inquisitive gaze looked around the room. "What time is it?"

"Time you got a watch…" Natsu muttered. This earned him a pillow to his unsuspecting face. "Ow, Luce!" He pointed accusingly at the sequins sewn into the lining of the offensive pillow. "That hurt!"

"Well it wasn't supposed to tickle~" She giggled and sat next to him, eyes boring into his own. "But seriously, what time is it?"

"Well-"  
"Oi matchstick and Lucy!" Gray's voice echoed from the behind the front door. "Erza's going off her nut waiting for you two to get you asses to the Guild." A fearful pause weighed heavily on both pyro and celestial mage. "You're way over an hour late."

"KYYYYAA~!" Lucy, as though a switch had been flicked, punched Natsu in the face and flung him through the door. She slammed her door harshly and flung clothes out of her wardrobe. She zoomed around her apartment and flung her un-folded clothes into a backpack. "AN HOUR LATE?!" She flung her front door open, locked it, snatched the unconscious Gray and Natsu by the ear, and zoomed towards the guild in a line of smoke.

๏๏๏

"Lucy looks like a tomato…" Happy flew above Lucy's head with his paws covering his small mouth. He wasn't half wrong. From where Erza's metal clad fist had whacked her across the head, a fine red bump had decorated her smooth blonde head.

Natsu and Gray weren't much better off, though. They were unconscious in Erza's overly stuffed horse cart of a luggage bag. They moaned and groaned in discontentment, Natsu the most, as they went harshly over the bumps and creases in the road.

"You had a fair warning," Erza growled fiercely. "We were supposed to meet at the guild for our mission at exactly one o'clock and not a minute over!" She flung her waist bag carelessly into her luggage bag. Of course, it came into fatal contact with Natsu's brick like dense head. He slithered down further into the luggage bag, his eyes replaced with swirls.

Gray blinked out of his unconscious state and jumped out of the card, casually walked beside it with crossed arms. "I think you're forgetting that _I_ was early." He muttered. "Natsu and Lucy were the ones that were late. Happy tagged along somewhere along the way."

"_**OH YEAH JUST DIG US A DEEPER HOLE, BAKA!" **_Natsu and Lucy's fists collided with Gray's cool composure, and sent him wheeling back into the cart. Natsu, remembering his travel sickness, collapsed back into the cart and onto a rather large plastic shark.

"Don't drag me into this, Gray~!" Happy cried. He tugged at Natsu's hair and pointed at Gray accusingly. Natsu just slumped further into the cart and drooled in the midst of his motion sickness. His face was nearly the colour of a grape while his cheeks puffed out dramatically.

Erza, coming to a halt on her speeding steps forward, frowned and let go of the cart handle. She closed eyes and crossed her arms over her armoured chest. She rest one arm on the other, and placed her chin in one hand. Apparently, she was thinking. It was either new ways of punishing Natsu, Gray and Lucy, or- "It seems we are lost."

A moment of rare silence blanketed the team. Lucy sunk out of the cart and crouched into a ball on the ground. Natsu jumped out of the cart and jumped around in pure joy that they had stopped moving. Happy was hovering in the air, munching on a fish, and Gray was staring into the open space, bewildered.

They were…lost.

"This is so unfair…" Lucy grumbled. "The one time everyone is up for _actually_ doing a mission and we get lost half way through…" The blonde stiffened when something soft brushed against her arm. Brown eyes focused on a piece of paper hat stuck out of the cart. She pulled it out slowly. _A map. _"GUYS I FOUND A-!"

Somewhere along the line of Natsu's dancing and cheerful exclamations, a long bead of fire shot from his mouth and came in to contact of the paper. Lucy watched the last remaining pieces of the last bit of hope of finding their way out of forest crumbled before her eyes.

There was no place for mercy where Lucy's mind had lodged itself to. "_**YOU IDIOT YOU BURNED THE MAP!"**_ She laced her hands around the pyro's open vest and shook him violently back and forth. _**"NOW HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET OUT?!"**_

"Easy," Gray commented coolly. "We'll build camp for tonight and head out in the morning. There's no point of wandering lost if we don't know where we're goin'." Of course. Gray was there to save the day.

The scarlet haired woman nodded in approval and set her cart down. She pointed a fierce finger. "Natsu, you get fire wood and try not to burn it." She pointed the other at Gray. "You go and get some rocks to keep the fire going and perhaps collect some berries – preferably not poison ones – and Lucy," Her eyes hardened. "You can go and collect some water." Erza's eyes moved towards Happy. "And you can go with her."

Lucy dropped Natsu harshly to the ground and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" She tilted her had curiously. "What're you gonna do?"

"I will set out our beds. Now go."

"I'LL BEAT YOU TO IT, STRIPPER!" Natsu's faint call resounded further into the forest as a trail of dust followed after him.

Gray glared and raced into the forest. "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY YOU FLAMING MINCE PIE!"

The blonde sighed and trudged into the forest. "C'mon, Happy. You go that way and I'll go this way."

"I know! Why don't we have a special call for when we find water?" He covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. "You're impression of a pig is good."

"GET GOING YOU STUPID ALLEY CAT!"

Xxx

A low hoot of an owl echoed through the dark forest. A chilled breeze curled around the leaves. Fallen branches snapped under Lucy's nerved steps. She wrapped her arms around herself and glared at the ground. "Where would I find water in a forest, anyway? I didn't see a single river on a way here."

_Snap_

The blonde suddenly stood up straight and ridged at the sound of a snapping branch. Her frozen form shook and slowly turned towards the sound. "H-Happy…is that you?" Her small whimper resounded in the forest.

Silence…

"M-Must be my imagination…" She swallowed her fear and trudged onwards. Her sharp eyes caught sight of a faint glistening in the shrubbery. "Is…is that-?" She picked up her pace and pulled back the branches. A clear river rounded and bended for as far as she could see. The river was thrashing and smashing against the rock in the middle. The blonde haired girl looked further down and squinted to see a sudden drop. _A waterfall._ She looked across and saw it was wider than she imagined. She bent down and poked the deep and never ending water. "Looks clean…"

_**And now my dear, as the fear travels through you…**_

Lucy jumped, startled, at the calm and eerily quiet voice. Just as she was about to turn around, a sudden force shoved her slender form into the unforgiving water. Lucy unlatched her hand from the flask, and thrashed in the icy water. "Ha-Happy!"

Lucy felt panic seize her chest as the icy cold water shot through her veins. The blonde haired woman felt herself being dragged away from the river bank and she trashed and clawed the surface. She choked and swallowed a large amount of the river water.

_**Drown in the tears and allow me to rule you…**_

Small black specks danced in her line of vision. Slowly, as her eyes began to shut down, she caught sight of a blacked out figure looming in the river bank. "Na…" Her voice came out as a small, weak whisper. She took in one final breath. "**NATSU!" ** A harsh wave crashed over her form, and Lucy was forced under the unforgiving surface.

_**And so goodnight my precious, darling love…**_

**O.O What did you think? Good start and good ending? Or horrible start and horrible ending? TEELL MEE IN YOUR REVIEWS! I am planning of making this quite a few chapters! Knowing me, it'll be quite a few! :P **

**I really hope you liked it! REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**

**Lucy**

**xxxx**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**HEY GUYS! Welcome back for chapter two of my story! I've got some really lovely reviews, and I'm hoping to get more! : D I seriously love your reviews, and see how much you like it! **

**And yes, I have an OC, and we'll learn more about…it…in future chapters!**

**I WILL RESPOND TO REVIEWS AT THE END!**

**ENJOY!**

It was fairly late into the night. The moon pleasantly lit up the sky, setting its rays of light upon the leafy trees. The stars added to the beauty of the lit sky. They created swirling patterns of odd shapes, and perhaps even faces.

"He's such a twat…" Gray commented idly. He sat with crossed arms just across the fire from Erza. His black eyes kept a disdainful eye on the pyro. A large pile of fire wood- well, it was more like a mountain – formed a shadow over the trio. "He bit off more than he could chew."

Erza nodded her agreement. "In terms of demolishing half of the forest to collect firewood, I agree." She sent a fiery glare. "Next time you collect the firewood, and he collects the berries."

"Yeah sure," Gray smirked. "That is if you like the taste of burnt fruit."

"_**NASTU!"**_

The duo flinched violently. The scream echoed around the entire forest. A heavy silence settled around them. "What the fu-?"

"_Lucy?"_ Natsu shot up from his sprawled out place on the floor and stared keenly into the darkened forestry. His darkened eyes furrowed. "Where's Lucy?" He swivelled on the spot. "And Happy?"

Gray glared at the pyro. "They went to find water, dumbass." He crossed his arms and leaned against the log behind him. "There's a river nearby, so it shouldn't take long." The glare softened into a smirk. "Did those logs smack the little sense you had out of your mostly combat filled brain, Natsu?"

The pinkette scowled at ice-mage. "What did you say, ice stripper?"

"You heard me, matchstick!"

"**CUT IT OUT THE BOTH OF YOU!" **Erza brought down a heavy metal clad fist on both of their heads. "If you start a fight before we've even _started_ the mission, you'll end up burning half of the forest and freezing over the rest." She punted Gray over to onside of the fire and Natsu to the other. "So I advise you to stop before you go home with serious, untreatable injuries."

"Natsu, Gray, Erza!" The trio's attention snapped to the darkened shrubbery of the forest that was only lit with the faintest trace of moonlight and stars. A blonde head slowly came into view, along with a large flask in one dainty hand. The blonde stopped and panted, bending over with her hands on her knees. "I managed to find some water." She straightened up to her full height and spun the flask on one wrist. "That should last us the night."

Natsu's onyx eyes narrowed. His calculating stare bore into her form that stood a few metres away from him. A new scent coursed through his nostrils. It was not the usual vanilla and coconut. It was verging on a bitter sage with a mixture of a sharp metallic edge. "Luce," His notched his voice to sound just above the level of curious. "Where's Happy?"

Lucy's warm brown eyes shrouded with confusion. "Happy…?" She murmured distantly. Her eyes grew distant and detached. She stayed silent for a few moments, staring into space. Her expression grew calculative. "Oh!" She grinned brightly and snapped her fingers. "Me and Happy went in different directions to find water. He should be here in just a moment."

_**NATSU!**_The pinkette furrowed his eye brows and crossed his arm over his chiseled chest. "Say Luce," He stepped closer and narrowed his eyes. "Did…" He trailed off. _You're not Lucy. _"Nah, forget it." He brushed passed her and stared into the verging on black forest. "Me and Lucy are gonna search for Happy." He grabbed the blonde's wrist and gently ushered her into the forest. "Don't want him wanderin' round in the forest for the night."

"Be careful, Natsu." Erza called after him. "Nocturnal creatures roam these parts of the forest at this time of night."

"You're kiddin' me, right?" Gray snorted, crossing his arms behind his head. "That guy won't be careful for shit." He briefly closed his eyes as a warm summer breeze swept over him. "Wouldn't surprise me if he ran into a herd of fanged sheep." He muttered in amusement.

Erza eyed him sharply. "Perhaps." She narrowed her eyes. "But I find it odd how Lucy took a while to reply to Happy's whereabouts." Her eyes darkened. "And when we heard that scream. I know it was Lucy."

Gray sat up. His face darkened in confusion. "Lucy turned up a few moments after it happened." He brought a hand up to scratch his head. "I didn't think anything of it, considering she looked alright to me."

"No." Erza's voice had a sharp and guarded edge. "Something was different." Her dark eyes landed on his face. "Something…something was different. A bit off, a bit out of key. Just…_something."_

"Nah, I think you're over thinkin'." Gray shuffled back down to his log and re-crossed his arms behind his head. "They'll come back and-"

"G-Gray…" A small whimper of a voice sounded from the bushes. "Erza…" The vice rung out with fear and tears. "N-Natsu…" Happy dragged himself from the bushes, and collapsed limply to the dusty ground.

"Happy!" Erza rushed forward and carefully picked the exceed into her arms. "Happy, what happened?" She carefully moved his paw from his side to see a darkening shaped bruise running down his side. "Happy-"

The ice-mage grimaced at the blackening bruise, and conjured a small piece of ice and wrapped it in a fine cloth. He carefully placed the ice on his side and frowned in concentration at the slight wince that crossed the cats face. "Happy…"

"Lu…Luushy…" Happy drawled lazily, unable to form a coherent sentence. "Ri-River…" He winced. "Sa-Save…Lusshhy…pushed…" He finally gave in to the overwhelming flecks of darkness that shrouded his vision.

"I knew something wasn't right…" Erza grit her teeth and clenched a fist. Silent horror dawned upon her. "Natsu…" She snapped her attention to the forest. "Gray, go and find Natsu." She gently placed Happy in his arms. "I will go to the river." She dug harshly into her armoured pocket and brought out a whistle. She shoved it into his spare hand. "If there's any trouble, blow it as loudly as you can. I will go to the river. Now go!"

In a flash, Erza re-equipped into her cheetah flight armour. She sprinted, in a blink of an eye, into the darkness of the forest with her glinting swords shining in the bright moonlight.

"Natsu you idiot…" The ice mage muttered as he sped through the forest. "Where the hell are you?"

Xxx

"_Happy_!" Natsu's bellows echoed around the forest. His footsteps crunched dead twigs and leafs that were moulded into the muddy ground. He looked back at the blond who locked one arm with her hand. He came to a sudden stop. He turned to the blonde and narrowed his eyes. "You not gonna help me out, Luce?"

A small smile spread across her features. Her bangs covered her darkening eyes. "What do I have the honour of helping you with, Natsu?" She flexed her dainty fingers. "Calling to something that isn't even there will not help you accomplish your goal of finding your friend any faster, you know."

"I knew it," Natsu growled, his eyes narrowing into slits. "You ain't Lucy."

The blonde smiled and cocked her head to the side, bangs still hiding her face. "Then who am I?"

"Not Lucy." Natsu spat viciously, rounding on 'her' dangerously. Flames flickered around his fingers tauntingly, itching to attack. Itching to do _something._ In a flicker of an eye, he found himself pressed against a nearby tree. 'Lucy's' face was still covered by a black shadow.

'Lucy' tilted her head to one side and forced him further into the oak beneath him. "Who do you want me to be?" She breathed. Her lips brushed gently against his own. "Hmm…?" She brought a feathery hand to brush against his tanned cheek.

Natsu felt an independent shockwave travel up his spine at the shock of feathery touch against his lips and cheek. He blinked, dazed, and forced his fogged brain to comprehend the world around him.

The blonde brought another light brush to his inched open mouth. "More than a friend but less than a lover…" She murmured softly. "It depends on how you view your friendship through another's eyes…" She grazed his lips with her own once more and smirked at the glaze over look. "Do you desire her, Natsu?" Her light whisper echoed softly through the night. Her hand travelled down to his waist. "Is there a forbidden bond that you cannot see?"

Natsu immediately snapped to his senses. In one forceful shove, the blonde was pushed away and back into the middle. "You ain't Lucy." He repeated dangerously. "Where…is she?"

The blonde, standing rigidly in the middle, tilted her head to the other side and slowly craned her head up. Her eyes were the purest of black. Where there were supposed to be eyes, there were two black endless holes. Her face, that was the closest to what they call transparent, was the purest of white with a few cracks decorating the sides. Her hair, that was flouting and slowly diminishing into the darkness of the night, slowly drifted from blonde to the purest of black. Her lips were a dark red, and whilst her face was pulled back into a small grin, her glinting white teeth were shown. Her body was reduced to nothing but a fine black mist that flouted in the warm air.

Natsu took two steps back with a snarl pulling at the sides of his mouth. "_Where is Lucy?"_ He clenched his fists. "Tell me!"

"_Lucy…" _The woman's voice was the finest of rich silk. It echoed and hummed in the air around him. "_Lucy is dreaming…" _Her silk voice was laced with amusement and sick entertainment. "_Lucy…" _The fine mist around her drew out a small leather bag with glinting attachments. _Her keys. _The mist threw the keys in front of Natsu's feet.

The salamander bent down numbly and carefully retrieved the keys from the muddy ground. He clenched the keys in a fist and slowly rose back up. "Alright you freaky piece of misty ghost crap," He shoved the keys in his pocket and glared at the nearing transparent woman. "If you won't tell me," His fist enveloped in a searing fire. "I'll burn it out!"

"_Lucy Heartphilia." _The woman voice oozed with a silent threat. "_Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jill fell in, made a splash, and never came up from the water." _The fine black missed slowly vanished into the darkness of the night, the song still ringing through the night.

Natsu was now alone.

The pinkette allowed the fire around his fist to vanquish. _Never came up from the water…_ His eyes widened in slow realisation of the song. _From the water…_ "Lucy…" He muttered. His form stiffly turned towards the direction of the fast flowing river. "Lucy!"

Xxx

The river crashed and trashed against lone rocks that stood brave in the centre of the angered water. Foam from the strength of the impending crashing sprayed into the air, contrasting with the moonlight. Beside the river bank, Erza stood, gazing intently at the thrashing water.

"Erza!" Gray jogged up beside her carrying the unconscious Happy. "Find anything?" He panted. The ice wizard watched as she gazed over the crashing river. He felt a chill travel up his spine.

"No." She answered carefully. "I suspect…Lucy sat here to gather water." She clenched her metal clad fist. "And that scream that we heard…"

"_**NATSU!"**_

"I know there is a waterfall that sits at the end of this river." A shiver ran through her. "If Lucy…" She swallowed tightly. "If Lucy…did fall into this river…-

"Aren't you even slightly confused on who that other blonde chick was?" Gray cut in firmly. "She took the form of Lucy. We need to find out who the hell that was."

"Like I said beforehand, something wasn't right." She narrowed her eyes. "I knew Natsu figured it out, too. He knows her better than anyone."

"**ERZA, GRAY!"**

Natsu dropped in front of the two, panting from his lengthy run. "What the hell are you doin' just standin' here?" He snapped viciously. "We gotta search the river, we gotta-"

"Natsu," Erza pressed firmly. "Where-"

"She wasn't Lucy." Natsu beat her to it. "She took the form of Lucy and tricked us. In fact, I'm not even sure if she was a chick or a ghost."

"A ghost chick?"

"Quit swapping my words, stripper."

"What-?!"

Erza, resisting to smack them both over the head, unravelled the cloth Happy was wrapped in. "As soon as you left, we found – well- Happy found us. He was badly injured. Gray helped by putting ice in the cloth."

Natsu's eyes immediately softened at the sight of his best friend shivering and wrapped in a cloth. He looked vulnerable. And he should _never_ look vulnerable. "I…" Happy whimpered from inside. "Sor…Nasu…" His words were jumbled and barely coherent.

"Never say sorry, lil buddy." He gently stroked the head of the sleeping exceed and smiled slightly. His smile slipped, though, and his eyes narrowed into two serpents like slits. "Chick or no chick, that bitch is gonna die." He spat. "And we _will_ get Lucy back. We will find her."

"What we gonna do about the mission?" Gray questioned.

"We'll have to put the mission on hold. Lucy is far more important." Erza stated sternly. Her brown orbs focused on the concentration of Natsu's face. "Natsu?"

"_Do you desire her, Natsu?"_

That one question run circles around his mind. It imprinted on his skull and his brain.

"_Is there a forbidden bond that you cannot see?" _

Somewhere deep down, he knew it was true.

And somehow, everyone else did, too.

**AMMAAGGADD GUYYSS! How did ya find that chapter?! AND BEFORE YOU THROUGH FIRE AND PITCHFORKS, LUCY IS FAR FROM DEAD! LUCY, IN MY STORY, WILL NEVER DIE!**

**We just don't know where she is yet…oh yeah! Except me…muhhah…MUAHAHAHH!**

***DODGES VARIOUS AMOUNTS OF FIRE AND PITCHFORKS!***

**Responses to reviews: **

**purplegiraffe21: Haha! Thank you! I will be writing a hell of a lot more! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU BY THE WAY! : ) Hope you had a good one!**

**Lilpumpkingirl: Thank you! I do enjoy building tension…JUST to put you guys on edge…eheheh…**

**ThatCrazyChick179: xD I will make a hell of a lot more chapters, don't you worry. Some of them will be fluffy, some of them sad, most of them tensing and EVERYTHING ELSE THAT MAKES A STORY!**

**SnowDragonSlayerTasha: Very much thank you! I hope to see you next for this chapter…hehe…**

**Review: Aww thank you so much! Hopefully see ya next round! : )**

**OMG I LOVE YOUR REIVEWS! FREE NALU CAKE AND COOKIES FOR THE PEOPLE WHO REVIEW!**

**SEE YA NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Lucy xxxxxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**HEELLOO AGAIN GUYS! : ) Thank you all for the reviews! I very much appreciate your opinions, and I'm very happy you like it so far!**

**As a side note, there will be ONE more OC. But it won't be introduced until a little bit later.**

**ANYWAY!**

**ENJOY!**

The summer morning sky, filled with blackened cotton candy clouds, slowly released small patters of rain. The ground soaked up the liquid, and the plants greatly appreciated the moisture sprinkling the petals and drooping flowers. It was at that moment that the heavens rained down upon them. A low howling wind accompanied the rain, and washed away the fallen leaves that had nestled into the ground.

The Fairy Tail members had clambered into a nearby cave to shield themselves from the oncoming storm. They sat in a circle with a small fire brewing in the middle with crossed arms in an attempt to keep the cold from seeping into their skin. Natsu kept Happy wrapped in the cloth, staring out into the darkened misty forest.

"She'll be ok, Natsu." Erza murmured softly. A heavy sense of tiredness was evident in her usually strict tone. "We know Lucy. She is stronger than we know."

Natsu kept his eyes trained on the blackened vegetation. "Yeah," He muttered. "But we don't know what the hell's taken her. And whatever _did_ take her, it hurt Happy. And I ain't takin' jack shit from that. Whatever it is, no matter how damn well big it is, we _will_ get her back. And we _will_ bring it down."

"And if that ghost chick can take on any form, we can't trust _anyone_ starting from now." Gray sat up and rested his head against a piece of rock of the cave. "If it has the ability to take on a person's complete form, and I mean it can copy scars, cuts, grazes and bruises, then I suggest we keep our eyes peeled."

Natsu clenched his fist and turned his gaze to scowl at the fire. "I don't get it. We searched that river from the waterfall to the very top to the very end…and she wasn't there." He furrowed his brow and closed his eyes. "That ghost chick-"

"Are we really gonna call it - 'That ghost chick'?" Gray interrupted, raising his eyes brows.

Natsu glared at him. "Have any other names for it, ice prick?"

"Jeez, chill out-!"

_**It's as though you feel heavy…**_

A darkening mist settled upon them, swirling in and out of their clothing, running through their hair, and catching any unspoken words and forcing their mouths closed. The three blinked sluggishly, willing their gazes to remain aware and alert. "Wha…" Erza clenched her fist and squinted into the outside of the cave. "…isat…" Her words strung together, forcing syllables and tying them together. Her brown orbs settled on a blackened figure. The world outside was surrounded in a fine white mist. A leaning, faintly outlined cocky figure of a light blue haired man came into iew from the vine mist. "J…Jellal?" She whispered faintly, her dark brown eyes widening through the struggle and force of gravity.

_**As though you are flouting on clouds, falling…through the finest of silk…**_

Gray growled and turned to his side, panting at the effort. His eyes locked to the outside world. It was surrounded in pure white, silky clouds. A figure a short, dark haired woman stood in the fine clouds, stood with one hand on her hip and a small smile on her clear features. Ur. "U…Ur…?" He panted with the sheer force of will, his arms shaking to hold himself up.

_**As though…you are falling …**_

Natsu grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. He tucked Happy closer to his chest and clenched his fists. "Whatever you're seein', whatever…you think it is…it ain't real!" He grabbed the one shoulder of Gray and forced his eyes to meet his own. Natsu recoiled at the distant and the misty white look to his eyes. "Gray, snap outta it!" He turned his attention to the wavering Erza. She stared blankly into the distance, with a small tear pooling in _one_ eye. "Erza…" He growled and shook her firmly. "ERZA!"

"_Natsu…"_

The pinkette froze in his place. His onyx eyes carefully drifted from the lining of the cave to the outside world.

There stood Lucy. Her brown orbs were shining with suppressed tears. One hand was covering her mouth. "_Where am I, Natsu?" _Her voice shook with cracking fear. Her big eyes were wide and unseeing. "_Why haven't you come to save me, Natsu?"_

Her voice sounded so real. So there. So…Lucy.

"_Are you afraid, Natsu?" _The voice enquired. "_Do you fear the darkness, the mist…and above all…" _The voice appeared close, even though she stood so far away. "_Death?"_

"I ain't…" His voice cracked. A still eerie silence constricted his words and tied them together. "I ain't scared of anythin'." His reptilian eyes flickered towards the rigid standing Lucy. One eye was nothing but a hole of a dark abyss, while the other remained the warm coca that he remembered. "And I'll tell you why…" He growled. "I have my friends. I know that even if they aren't with me, they will always be standing beside me." He narrowed his clear onyx eyes. "Always."

The woman, still standing and rigid in the middle of the forest, slowly brought her hands to her face and breathed in deeply with a curled smile on her delicate features. "Your spirit is delicious…" She raked a small red tongue over her ruby red lips. "…Even good enough to eat…"

Natsu hissed with drawn back lips. "Shut up," He narrowed his eyes further. "Where's Lucy?"

The woman giggled in spite. Her head dropped to one side. Her face was a sheet of a blank canvas. "_Dead_."

Natsu's breath caught in his throat. The world around him painted itself a shade of numbing grey. The word bounced loosely around his mind. He felt a pressure build behind his eyes. A small part of him willed to scream and thrash, while the other wished to lock himself away and…- He swallowed the bile that seemed to lodge itself in his throat. "You…" He growled, taking a hobbling stand. "You're…lyin'…"

The woman smiled. Her blackened eye concentrated solely on him. "You asked me where the location of Lucy Heartphilia was," Her smile turned taunting and dangerous. "And I told you. _Dreaming. Dead. GONE!"_

In a fluid, blurred movement, the woman was shoved violently against a tree. "I _know_ you're lyin'." His menacing glare bore into who lifeless and dark ones. "_Nobody_ can kill Lucy. She's not invincible, no, but she has the most powerful weapons on her side." His grip tightened. "Determination," He shoved off of the tree and ignited his fists. "Strength," The woman's eyes widened. "And willpower."

"Something you clearly lack." She hissed spitefully, slowly disintegrating into the darkness. "_This is far from over, Natsu Dragneel."_

"Ain't gonna stop me from gettin' Lucy back, old hag." He brought a hand into his trouser pocket, and brought out Lucy's glinting keys. "Lucy's keys…" He murmured softly. He rubbed one thumb over the glinting gold. In all suddenness, the keys jerked and fell to the moist earth below. Natsu stumbled back a few steps and blinked in surprise. "Wha-?"

In a puff of white smoke, two small figures hovered above the ground. Gemi and Mini. Lucy's spirits. "Natsu Dragneel," They both chimed. "We were unable to protect Lucy. We are sorry." Their perfectly in sync voices echoed around the darkened forest. They continued before Natsu could get a word in. "We were trapped within the celestial world by a force much darker than night itself." They stopped and their forms flickered, as if a mere hologram. "Only three have escaped, and that is Leo and the two of us. A wormhole was introduced between our world and yours, and so we were able to escape. Leo-" Their forms crackled and their voices sounded similar to a crackling TV screen. "…-ith…Lu-cy…-"

Natsu clenched his fists and bent down to pick up the keys. "All I wanna know is if Lucy is safe." He growled. "And I think I can catch the jist of what you're tryin' to say." He forced a smile. "Tell him to keep her safe. I don't care how, just do it."

Both of the twins fizzled into a ball of white smoke, and Natsu was once again alone. He looked up into the clearing summer morning sky. The sun sent bright warming beams down upon the tree leaves, and lit up the dew covered grass. "Where _are_ you, Luce?"

Xxx

_Grumble_

_Curse_

_Yelp_

_SLAM!_

Loke winced and rubbed the offending area of his head. He pulled himself into a sitting position, and squinted in an attempt to adjust to the dim lighting. "L-Lucy?" His voice bounced uselessly off of the cold damp rocks surrounding him. He sat in the middle of a medium sized, what he presumed, cell. Water dripped from the ceiling and splattered onto the greasy ground. The sound alone blanketed him in an eerie silence.

The suited man rose from the ground unsteadily, and adjusted his glasses. "Lucy?" He called out once more. He narrowed his gaze at a small curled up lump in the far corner of the room. He stepped forward and tilted his head. "Lu…-" He stopped short at a strand of sodden blonde hair that flattened itself against the greasy ground.

Without realising it, he took off in a small jog with a large smile on his face. Loke, getting ready to dive down next to her, got forced back by a swift hardened object in his path. "What the…?"

"Shh…" His eyes snapped open to the sound of a sweet, honey laced voice. "The baby's sleeping." His gaze fell on a long, ebony haired woman who crouched next to the tucked in Lucy with a small, twisted smile upon her ivory pale face. Her face, around the edges, was cracked like a mirror. Her lips were the darkest of reds, and her teeth the whitest of pearls.

Loke narrowed his eyes and pushed himself up. "Who're…you?" In an attempt to stand, he was shoved violently back down by an invisible force. "What the-?"

The woman smiled and crouched down next to him. She traced his jaw with one nimble and dainty finger. Her eyes were the purest of blacks. Only the whiteness surrounding it provided enough evidence that her eyes were truly there. "I am…someone you need to know about…" Her voice lowered into a whisper. She brought her head further down to his ear. "I am…" He vaguely noticed Lucy struggling in her confinements. "The Dream God Slayer." She chuckled softly. "I was mistaken for a ghost on several occasions…I even gave them a hint. But," Here the woman sighed mockingly. "I am not a ghost, but I am not quite alive." She stood and tilted her had. "_Dreaming._"

Loke struggled against the unseen bounds. "Why Lucy?" He pushed against the bounds surrounding him. "Why her?"

The woman laughed quietly. "Perhaps you will never understand." She snapped her fingers and narrowed her gaze. "I will let you go." She snatched him up by the tie and glared scornfully. "But I will hunt _her_ down just as quickly. What's that saying? You can run…" She dropped him harshly to the ground. "But you can't hide." She made her way over to Lucy and waved one hand over her head. "If you cannot find your way out, then I will give you a head start."

Their surroundings melted into various amounts of colours. The cell re-shaped, and soon enough, the three stood in the middle of the faint sun lit forest. "But because of this…" She violently slashed her hand through the air. Loke let loose a violent gasp and collapsed back, vanishing in a meld of different coloured sparkles.

"You are _barred_ from assisting her. And don't you worry, the Celestial King will not oppose against this." Her facial features darkened. "He and I have unfinished business that he would rather leave in peace." As soon as the words left her mouth, the woman dispersed into the summer morning air.

Lucy gasped sharply, and shot from her space on the ground. A large amount of water flooded down from her mouth and melted into the grassy ground. The summer breeze seeped into her sodden clothing.

"_I smell something…"_

Lucy flinched and craned her neck around in the direction of the voice. At the action, she grimaced at the sound of swooshing water in her ears. A small part of her recognised the voice. A large part of her wanted to scream. "Na…" She croaked and reached out a hand. "…tsu…Natsu!"

Her weak voice bounced loosely around the forest. The blonde winced and drew herself up to her knees. She clenched her fist and took a shaky stand. The sound of rushing water sloshed around the inside of her head. Lucy weakly reached for her whip on one side, and tightly grasped the sheath. In one swift movement, she threw the whip around a nearby branch and pulled herself up. She leaned against the whip for support.

_Snap!_

The branch snapped numbly, and Lucy collided with the grassy ground. She forcibly fell onto her back with a harsh _thud._ She looked up at the passing clouds silently with a small smile on her face.

"_Over this way!"_ The smile on Lucy's face grew at the sound of the familiar voice. _"I know that scent anywhere. I know it's her! LUCY!"_

At the sound of crunching leaves, Lucy's eyes slipped shut. The last thing she saw was the calm passing clouds.

Xxx

A warm summer breeze caressed Lucy's sun kissed skin. Two chocolate melted eyes fluttered open, resting on a small crack in her ceiling. She stretched one leg outwards in order to relieve the oncoming cramp that was sure to come. She squeezed her eyes shut and relaxed into the warmth of her pillow. The moonlight from outside slowly grazed in and spread against her walls.

"You humans are fascinating…" A soft silk voice murmured from the other side of the room.

Lucy's eyes snapped open. She slowly craned her neck to one side and lay rigid when she saw a long black haired woman sit on a chair with crossed over legs. Her face was as pale as moonlight, her lips a dark red. Her eyes were two endless black abysses.

"Wha…" Lucy squeaked in silent terror. "Wh-Who are you? How did you get in-?"

"You're dreaming, Lucy," The woman murmured softly. Her tone was thoughtful and dreamy, soft flowing and kind to the ear. "Do you not think your friends would be here if you were awake?"

Lucy swallowed the bile of fear. "Well I uh…" She didn't dare move from her bed. "Who are you?"

The woman stayed silent, her black eyes gazing thoughtfully at the wooden slated floor. "I am a dream, Lucy. I can be whoever you want me to be. I can re-shape and re-form, but I am _not_ real. All because I am in _your_ head. You dreamt me, so I came." She sighed softly. "But I did come here to say…" She looked up thoughtfully. Her black eyes seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. "I am very sorry."

"Sor-Sorry? For…for what?" Lucy enquired, bewildered. She watched in fascination as the woman, as if a switch had been flicked, sat up menacingly and narrowed her dark gaze. "U-Uh…"

"For turning your dreams into your worst nightmares…" She smiled bitterly. "For turning your nightmares into a maze of lost hope." She waved a hand and, as if she was a mere hologram, flickered once or twice. _"For being the monster under your bed…"_ Her eerie laugh rung around her head. _"Good morning Lucy, your friends are waiting."_

And then…

_She was falling…_

…**Oh…my….god…WHAT DIDYOU THINK?! Did ya like Dream god Slayer? I was thinking over and over on what she could be. A ghost is just…meh…and then it came to me! Like a Pikachu had just shocked me! Dream god slayer! Nah, she won't be over powered. Don't worry. Remember: She is not a ghost but not quite alive. Anyone take a guess? xD OH! And help me out with some names for her! **

**Oh and lemme explain the dream woman. In short, none-giving away the whole game word: She has a split personality. **

**NO MORE HINTS!**

**REVIEW GUYS!**

**OH AND THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! REVIEWS – SOMEHOW I DON'T KNOW HOW QUITE YET – MAKE ME WRITE FASTER!**

**Lucy xxxxx**


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